We Americans like our history simple, whatever our politics might be. Then you come upon the brambled creekbed behind the Presidio's Fort Scott and see the twists that history can take. The gully is spanned by a bridge that's not brick or adobe or any of the materials that define the look of the long-time Army post. Instead it is stone, a formal passage through terrain that otherwise feels wild. The bridge offered work to combat the Depression. Now it connects to nothing around it and yet, in the process, adds a layer of intrigue all its own.

Dragonfly Creek West of Upton Avenue, north of Kobbe Avenue | Origin: Believed to be constructed by the Works Progress Administration | Style: Rustic | Date built: circa 1939

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